The Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks are not very close to each other geographically, but this offseason the two have had a number of connections, including losing their top offensive stars in Monta Ellis and Josh Smith and also because former Hawks coach Larry Drew is now in that position with the Bucks.
This offseason the Bucks made a play for Hawks guard Jeff Teague but Atlanta decided to match the offer, but the connections don't stop there, as Milwaukee signed Atlanta center Zaza Pachulia and now there is another link, as Atlanta claimed Bucks center Gustavo Ayon off waivers. The Bucks had put Ayon on waivers to avoid his $1.5 million salary from becoming guaranteed and now that Atlanta has claimed him, the contract will do just that for the backup center. The Hawks previously tried to sign Dwight Howard and they also brought in Elton Brand as a free agent. Josh Smith departed for the Pistons and Kyle Korver was retained and general manager Danny Ferry still feels that the team can make a playoff run next season. The Hawks also added Paul Millsap to the frontcourt and now Ayon brings his averages of 4.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game last season with the Bucks.
The Bucks have made a number of moves this offseason with signing OJ Mayo, Carlos Delfino and Pachulia and the team also made a trade for Luke Ridnour, adding plenty of new faces for Drew. The Bucks made the playoffs as the eighth seed in the East last year and were swept by the Miami Heat in the first round and the team now is also working on bringing back point guard Brandon Jennings, who is a restricted free agent.
Milwaukee isn't done dealing either and are looking to sign Gary Neal from the San Antonio Spurs after yet again, the Hawks were also interested in signing him. Neal has spent three seasons with the Spurs and he had himself a heck of a game in the NBA finals against the Heat in Game 3 while scoring 24 points on six three pointers. Neal has an excellent outside shot and has averaged nearly 10 points over three seasons, including 9.5 in 68 games last year.
